Believe it or not, it's been five years since Sideways was released, and despite developing and producing several films in that time, director Alexander Payne has yet to complete a follow-up. But now there's hope once again, with the news that he's working on an adaptation of The Descendants, a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings.
The book was Hemmings' debut novel, and tells the story of a modern-day Hawaiian father called Matt whose wife is in an irreversible coma, and whose life support is just about to be switched off. With his two daughters, 17 year-old Alex (just out of rehab) and 10 year-old Scottie, Matt sets off in search of his wife's lover, to give the other man a chance to say goodbye.
The story is a drama with touches of dark comedy, and is due to start shooting in Hawaii late this year or early next. There's no cast as yet, and Payne's currently busy redrafting the screenplay by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
But never fear, Payne fans*! He's still working on Downsizing, the satire about a man who decides to improve his life by shrinking himself, which Paul Giamatti, Reese Witherspoon and Sacha Baron Cohen all committed to starring in. It's just going to take a bit longer to put that one together. Presumably cause they have to build really big furniture to make Giamatti look tiny.
*Does that make you masochists?